OMID’S MISSION The acronym "OMID" is taken from the Farsi words that translate to "satisfying day-to-day needs of the farmers." The word OMID means "hope" in Farsi, which is precisely what this effort is all about. Thus, “hope for sustainable society” has become our motto.

New Approaches to Old Problems Nearly 85% of the poor people in the world live in rural areas and make their living on small farms. Thus, any viable solution to fight poverty must address first and foremost the needs of the farmers. Top-down approaches of giving large amounts of aid and subsidies, without a plan to sustain them long-term, do not work for reducing poverty. We need a bottom-up approach that satisfies the basic needs of smallholders (i.e., farmers with small pieces of land) so that they can become entrepreneurs Fighting rural poverty requires a sustainable and market-driven solution --- a solution that provides cost effective technology and microcredit but, at the same time, requires that the farmers invest their own time and their own money if they are to escape poverty permanently. By cultivating agricultural productivity and entrepreneurship through creation of input supply chains and output markets, OMID-USA hopes to serve over one million farmers in the first five years of operation.

Paul Polak – Out of Poverty The original Treadle Pump

Solar Powered Solutions for Farmers Worldwide Access to potable water for drinking and for farming is an issue for which people in developing countries worldwide are seeking solutions. 80% of the potable water in the world is used for agriculture This creates crises of the available clean water for drinking and food preparation. OMID is working to: Find ways to cost effectively clean water that has been previously used (grey water) or is brackish (high saline content) so that it can be used for agriculture production Find more efficient and environmentally sustainable ways to deliver and use limited water supplies in agriculture production Find ways to preserve products longer on the farm so that a larger percentage can be delivered to market.

PREP and SolarCool ColdShed PREP - Portable Renewable Energy Platform A portable solar power pumping system able to move up to 10 gallons of water per minute This is coupled with a drip irrigation system which will exponentially decrease cost of securing water and increase agriculture production

PREP: Portable Renewable Energy Platform

A Deeper Problem: Rethinking Infrastructure investment The PREP can move water for over a mile to a reservoir tank but what if the water is not near the surface? The need for solar powered, deep well pumping into a communal tank This will require governmental infrastructure investment because of the expense of these systems

PREP Drip Irrigation System Stage I : Infrastructure - A Common Water Reservoir Powers Shared Fixed Solar Array Large Pump Moves water to 10,000 Liter Shared Water Reservoir

The PREP Drip Irrigation System: Stage II: Moving Water to the Crops Uses To Power Small Water pump Shared Water Reservoir PREP - Portable Solar Panel with voltage regulator Moves water into Gravity Powered Drip Irrigation More efficient use of water & greater crop production 1000 Liter Personal Storage Tank

SolarCool,Ltd - ColdShed As much as 60% of crops are lost because they rot in the fields due to a lack of adequate storage facilities for the small farmer SolerCool ColdShed is a solar powered storage unit that can be used to keep crops fresh allowing a longer time to ship to market SolerCool is a for profit company from which a significant part of the profits will go to support the non-profit OMID

SolerCool Colombia,Ltd. SolerCool India,Ltd. SolerCool Africa, Ltd. Because of the expense of building the ColdS heds we had to have some way of making these available to the types of communities we want to serve Thus we formed three for-profit companies in India, Africa and Colombia. The focus is Colombia Africa and India at this point have been test sites. The idea is to sell ColdSheds at a profit then use an as yet undetermined percentage of that profit to support the non-profit. Question: how do we determine what we need to reinvest in the company to make it viable and what percentage to we give to OMID Question: Are there models out there for relationships between for-profit and non- profit companies upon which we could draw for guidance.

Long-term: From Field to Market Cell phone app to locate best regional market Preserving crops If needed also contacts Delivers to More Products to Market Greater profit for farmer Transport system

Financing the PREP System The best option for funding for this system is a private / public venture with both the state and the farmer making an investment The State provides the fixed solar array and large pump which will deliver water from deep wells into a shared water reservoir and the drip irrigation hosing The Farmer will pay for their own PREP (solar panel and pump) which will deliver the water to their crops. After the initial investment there are only minimal ongoing costs. Thus the system pays for itself in a relatively short period of time. We estimate the fixed cost for the shared pump and reservoir to be $5,000 USD- possibly less if we use local contractors. This reservoir would provide water for an entire village of farmers or a whole cooperative. The hosing cost would depend upon the amount of land involved. The fixed cost for the farmer would be under $200 USD which should pay for itself within the first year.

Environmental Sustainability and Greater Self-Sufficiency Solar power is the most environmentally friendly method of moving water. Drip irrigation is the most efficient way to use water for agriculture using exponentially less water than flood irrigations systems. This also makes it effective for regions which have less water available. Drip irrigation has been proven to increase crop yield because it is able to provide the exact amount of water required for each crop. The increased production of drip irrigation combined with the cost efficiency of solar power allows the farmer to have higher returns from crops and become more self-sufficient. The PREP Drip Irrigation system becomes even more effective when combined with the SolarCool ColdShed storage units